04.08.2013 by rafal sawicki

Lotto 49er Grand Prix Gdynia 2013 Final Day

British crew James Peters and Ed FitzGerald GBR 999 won the medal race of the Lotto 49er Grand Prix Gdynia regatta. Thanks to this they reached the same score as German crew of Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel (GER 100) and won in general classification.

Medal race was very dramatic. The Lead changed few times and the British crew eventually won the race.  Team HP Sailing, GER 100, had an advantage of six points so all they needed was to finish in third place or better.  Over three-quarters of the race they sailed in that position, but just before the finish line they were passed by their colleagues from Germany Tim Elsner and Marco Grasse (GER 211) and finally finished fourth.  This medal race results meant that the first two crews (GBR 999 and GER 100) were equal on points in general classification so James Peters and Ed FiztGerald won the 2013 Lotto 49er Grand Prix Gdynia.  This is a just outcome as they won 7 out of 12 races.  Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel were second and Elsner and Grasse took the third place.

Polish crews did not have much luck.  Przemysław Filipowicz and Jacek Piasecki were third before medal race but they finished tenth and moved to sixth position in general classification.  Fifth place was Tomasz Januszewski and Jacek Nowak . The Polish Olympian from London, Lukasz Przybytek, sailed with Marcin Rymer and finished in seventh position.

Lotto 49er Grand Prix Gdynia was innovative in every way.  The new format and course, the proximity of the shore, the large audience, the money price and the best crews.  It was also the first time in history of 49er class that a night race was held.  On Saturday at 10.00 pm at the beach in Gdynia was packed with spectators and it will be remembered fondly by all.

The five top crews participated in the night race.  Three were from Germany, one British and one Polish.  Illuminated boats and marks and the race course which was situated along the shore, as well as sensational live commentaryt, drew in crowds on the Gdynia’s city beach.  The competition was a combination of running, swimming and sailing, as the start and finish line was situated on the beach, and the competitors had to first run and swim to reach their boat, and then sail the course and swim and run again.  The race was won by Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel who showed a perfect pumping technique as the rule 42 didn’t apply.

Lotto 49er Grand Prix Gdynia overall results:

Results 49er – Medal Race

Scores take into account 1  discard